1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement in liners for bottle or other container caps capable of providing a visual indication, at the point of purchase, or at least before use, as to whether the container has been previously opened.
2. Description of the Prior Art
This invention relates to an improvement in a container seal which fits beneath the cap to afford the consumer an opportunity to readily determine whether or not the cap has been previously opened or tampered with since the container left the manufacturer or packaging company. The need for barriers within a cap to seal the container has become required, but the cap must typically be removed at the point of purchase to determine in fact whether or not any tampering was undertaken relative to the inner seal. The present invention provides a tamper-indicating inner seal for caps having at least a portion of the top thereof being translucent, such that one can readily tell whether or not the cap has been tampered with at the point of purchase.
The need for prevention of removal of a container seal and replacing same without detection has existed for some time. One prior patent relating to a rupturable container closure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,131,774. There is disclosed therein a cap which is used to force a plate against a liner or gasket to seal the top of a bottle. Between the plate and the cap is a rupturable disk of fibrous or other suitable rupturable material having impressed thereon a safety design of a type intended to make the duplication or counterfeit of the disk as difficult as possible. It is desirable to bond the disk to the plate by use of a suitable adhesive or cement. The cap, however, is provided with prongs, which, after the cap is in place, are forced downward to penetrate the rupturable disk in areas above a groove formed in the metal plate. When opening the container, it is merely necessary for the consumer to impart a reverse turning movement to the closure. During the first portion of this movement, the metal shell will turn independently of the packing liner or gasket, the plate and the rupturable disk, and the prongs will move along the groove and tear the material of the disk, thereby forming jagged and irregular therein. After the prongs have once been placed through the disk, it is taught to be extremely difficult to remove the cap in a manner which could avoid detection.
The invention of the present application provides a rupturing and tearing of an inner seal upon rotation of the cap in relationship to the container in somewhat the same manner, but, adhesives or heat sealable films are used to adhere the rupturable liner to the inside of the cap and an adhesive is used to bond the rupturable disk to a laminate forming the seal of the container such that the relative movement causes the tearing and a very visible indication of closure tampering.
The present invention has the advantage of being formed for use with conventional cap lining equipment and conventional induction sealing equipment capable of sealing existing cap liner materials to the container at the time they are filled.